1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for separating materials by weight and size using centrifugal force.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional methods of separating materials by size include filtering and size-separation chromatography. Centrifugal separation is the use of centrifugal force to separate components in a material by the specific gravity of the components. Centrifugal separators can be classified into centrifugal settlers and centrifugal filters. Centrifugal settlers have a sealed rotating drum within which a material is separated into residual layers. A centrifugal filter, on the other hand, has an open rotating drum with apertures through which liquid or small particles can pass through to the outside of the drum. The centrifugal filter contains a filtering plate with apertures formed therein, whereby a rotating force is applied perpendicularly to the filtering plate.
Accordingly, in the prior art, there is no centrifugal separation method or apparatus which use a plate without apertures to centrifugally separate materials.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus method for separating material by size, quickly and easily using a plate without apertures to centrifugally separate materials.